


Change of Plans

by freetolive603



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, TMP Secret Santa Fic Exchange 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2837378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freetolive603/pseuds/freetolive603
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Mindy are snowed in on Christmas day and exchange presents in order to get into the Christmas spirit and cheer up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change of Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Likerealpeopledo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Likerealpeopledo/gifts).



> Secret Santa Prompt: "Danny, in a black cashmere (or some other luxurious fabric) sweater, kind of angsty, kind of fluffy, kind of smutty, and he and Mindy are snowed in on Christmas." I don't write smut though, so I'm sorry for disappointing you on that front. I hope you enjoy reading this regardless. Happy Holidays!

“Oh, God,” he muttered in a gruff, low voice, peering over at the TV from his trademark red glasses.

Danny and Mindy had spent all of Christmas Eve in Staten Island with Dot, Richie, Ramon, Annette and Danny’s other close family and friends, gorging on Italian classics and listening to Springsteen. Danny couldn’t help but smile at seeing Mindy easily fit in, often going off and making conversation without him. He would spot her across the room in her bright red and silver dress as he went around handing Christmas cookies to everyone, his apron tied tightly to his lean body, and she would give him a subtle wink whenever their eyes met.

It was now Danny’s turn, but he knew the holiday socializing wouldn’t come as easily to him. Truth be told, he knew very little about Mindy’s heritage and had no clue what could possibly considered offensive, so his solution was going to be to just keep his mouth shut. It wouldn’t be too difficult since Mindy and Rishi were quite talkative, and he could probably sit back and listen, a skill he had perfected over the years.

“What happened?” Mindy called out from the bathroom. She was getting into her Christmas outfit a good three hours before their train for Boston was scheduled to depart; Danny knew she needed the time.

Danny stated solemnly, “Min, The Weather Channel says the snow got worse. Everything’s blocked. Flights are getting cancelled, trains aren’t running, huge traffic jams. I don’t think we’re going to be able to make it to Boston today.”

“Danny, are you being serious or are you lying because you’re scared of meeting my parents?” She came out with mascara in hand. “Because I’ve had to deal with your mother for the past five months, and I think it’s only fair…”

“No, Mindy, I’m being serious.” He took a quick glance at her half-dressed state. She was clad in a loose yellow bathrobe that barely hid her red bra and black cable knit tights that covered her underwear. Danny clicked his tongue to force himself to refocus as he undid his black tie. “Look,” he pointed to the screen on her laptop.

She leaned over to take a look and whined, “Oh, no! We’re going to miss Christmas!” Mindy sat down on the bed and leaned back against the headboard.

Danny wrapped an arm around her. “Babe, I promise we’ll head over there as soon as the roads clear up.”

“I know, but it won’t be _Christmas_! I just—I wanted to spend Christmas with my family and my boyfriend together. Most of the guys I dated didn’t even get to this point, not even Casey because everything went so fast.” She shrugged simply, “I wanted to show you off to them. Like, ‘ _See? Mindy has a nice, hot boyfriend. You don’t have to worry about her love life._ ’ They’d love you, especially my dad.”

Danny smiled honestly at the compliment. It was somewhat reassuring since he would have to face her parents sooner or later. “I’m sorry, Min.”

Mindy sighed and pushed herself off of him. “I guess I’ll go change into nana’s nightgown.”

“No,” Danny said firmly. “Go get dressed. We’re going to celebrate Christmas here.”

She smiled inquisitively at him. “But what are we gonna do here?”

He began counting off on his fingers, “We can watch corny Christmas movies about people having to take care of their dead sibling’s children and falling in love with a stranger who helps them develop a connection to the kids.”

She clapped excitedly, “My favorite kind!”

He thought for a few seconds before continuing, “We can fall asleep together while listening to Christmas songs.”

“Okay, old man, you’re just looking for an excuse to take a nap,” Mindy teased.

“I am not! I’ll even let you take those stupid couples’ pictures that you always want to post on Facemash.”

Mindy gasped in delight, “Couples’ pictures on a white Christmas! Danny, that sounds so romantic!”

Danny considered whether he wanted to bring up the next idea and approached it hesitantly. “We could…play in the snow.”

She blinked hard. “Play. In the snow.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, “I’ll make you hot chocolate to warm you up.” Mindy’s eyes lit up. “And then, we can eat and eat and eat. I already cooked a bunch of food to bring to Boston yesterday, but I think it’ll be okay if we make a dent in it.”

Mindy swatted at his crossed arms, “You should have started with that! I think we should eat first.”

Danny laughed. “Plus, I’m already dressed,” he indicated to his crisp blue shirt and black slacks. “Now, don’t waste your makeup. Go put on your Christmas sparkle,” Danny nodded towards the bathroom.

She kissed his cheek excitedly before running off. “Thank you, Danny!”

Danny made his way over to the kitchen to bide time. He figured he might as well reheat the food he had prepared for the Lahiris and see if there was anything else he could make. There wasn’t much he could do with sour straws and frozen meals, but he did find a giant container of assorted nuts. With the leftover chicken he had kept in her freezer, he decided to whip up some almond-crusted chicken.

“That smells really good,” Mindy said hungrily, stepping outside after a good half hour. She hadn’t bothered eating more than a strawberry cream cheese croissant for breakfast, figuring that her parents would stuff her full of Indian food the second she stepped off the train.

Danny turned around to take a look at her outfit. She had kept it a surprise, and boy, was it worth it. Mindy’s highlighted brown hair was in a loose updo, and she wore dangly silver earrings, a cream white dress with cap sleeves and silver embellishments, and silver pumps.

“Wow, Min. You look amazing,” he blinked a few times in astonishment.

Mindy smiled briefly before looking around her apartment at the lack of Christmas spirit. Since she and Danny spent most of their time in his apartment, she had brought all of her essential Christmas decorations there and never bothered decking up her own place.

“It doesn’t look like Christmas. This is probably the least Christmas-y place in all of New York City,” she exaggerated, hiding her disappointment.

“How about we exchange presents, huh?” Danny smiled hopefully. “That’ll feel more like Christmas, right?” He turned the stove off and took her hands in his.

“Okay, but I want to give you mine first!” she said childishly and ran to retrieve her present from her bedroom. 

Danny stared out the window, the constant snow falling calming. He was shaken from his peace by Mindy taking his hands in hers to lead him to the couch. The two sat down facing each other, careful to preserve the wrinkle-free clothes they were decked in. After all, they needed at least a few decent photographs to commemorate the day as Danny had promised.

She excitedly handed him a gift bag filled to the brim with glittery tissue paper. Danny reached in, pulled out a sweater, and laid it on his lap.

“It’s cashmere, see?” She held the article of clothing up for him to feel. 

He ran his fingers across it. “It’s black,” he commented quietly.

Mindy shrugged casually, “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t like the purple one.”

“Thank you,” Danny leaned over to place a quick kiss on her lips, although they both ended up clinking teeth with their huge smiles. She was letting him be him, no more forcing pink or purple or crazy patterns on him. He layered the soft piece of fabric on over his light blue dress shirt. “I love it.”

“There’s my winter prince!” Mindy wiped off imaginary dust particles from his shoulders. “You’re like Hans from _Frozen_.”

Danny frowned, “Isn’t he the evil one?”

“Yeah, but he’s hot!” she announced as if it were obvious.

“There’s the Min I know and love.” Danny placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. Mindy led the kiss this time, running her fingers up and down his arms before coming to a resting position at his bicep. God, his muscles were taut.

Suddenly, she pulled away. “My turn!”

Danny smiled and gave her another quick kiss before going pull out his present for her. He had it safely stowed away in a wooden cabinet nestled in a forgotten corner of the living room. Mindy had been excited to fill up the place with these knickknacks and decorative pieces when she had first moved into the apartment, but like any other, stopped even glancing towards it given a few months.

“Danny! You hid my present here all this time?” Mindy squealed.

Danny knew she was more likely to snoop through his apartment to find her Christmas present than her own. He smirked and handed it to her, returning to his seat.

Mindy messily ripped apart the elegant white and gold wrapping paper, opened up the Christmas-themed rectangular box, and gasped, finding a set of gorgeous mason jars. The first one was filled with sugar, chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, and the like – an easy and decadent brownie mix. The second one was layered with dried lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary and surrounded by a clear liquid. The last one was filled with folded up red, white, and pink paper hearts.

The proportions for the mix weren’t perfect. The rosemary was messily thrown about the liquid. The paper hearts were clearly cut by hand. Noticing these details, Mindy asked, “Danny, did you make these?” 

He breathed out a long-held sigh. His words felt constricted in his chest, but he managed to sputter out a soft “Yeah”.

She stared at the three jars in awe. “These are gorgeous!”

Danny lifted the first one from its place. “You love my brownies, so I decided to put all the ingredients in a little jar for you. You can make them in California. I’ll even let you take my brownie pan with you, since you probably don’t have one.”

“But won’t you need it?” she asked earnestly.

“Not when you’re not around.” 

Mindy cleared her throat nervously. She knew the move was going to be tough for Danny. He had avoided the topic as much as possible over the past week, simply nodding or smiling when she mentioned it in excitement. She pushed forward and handed him the scent jar, “What about the next one?”

He smiled when looking at the messiness, remembering how he had tried to use that Pinterest site and realizing his mason jar looked nothing like the one in the picture. “Set it up in your new apartment. The smell’s supposed to last at least a few months.”

“And the last one?”

Danny began to tear up a little and placed a hand on her thigh. It was his resting position for whenever he wanted to comfort both himself and her at the same time. “Each heart has an instruction. Anytime you miss me, I want you to reach in the jar and do what it says. Okay?”

Mindy began calculating the number of days she would be spending in California in her head. “How many are there?”

Danny paused, “I don’t know. Let’s just say…when you get to the end of the jar, call me, and I’ll be on the next flight out, okay?” 

Mindy suddenly felt the weight of 3,000 miles on her shoulders. She started tearing, but Danny immediately wiped her eyes and said sternly, “No, no, Mindy.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t cry for doing what you need to do. I’m proud of you.” He kissed her eyelids and held onto her tight.

She curled her fingers into the black cashmere. “I love you, Danny.”

He whispered into her hair, “I love you, too, babe. Now, how about that Christmas feast?”


End file.
